same-sex relations - The African Mirror

Oct

2023

South Korean court upholds ban on gay sex within armed forces

SOUTH Korea's constitutional court narrowly upheld a law banning same-sex relations within the armed forces, citing a possible risk to the military's combat readiness in a ruling criticised by activists as a setback for gay rights. Under the country's military criminal act, members of the armed forces face up to two years in prison for same-sex relationships. The law has been referred to the court and upheld by it four times since 2002. In Thursday's five-to-four ruling, the court said allowing same-sex relations could undermine discipline within the military and harm its combat capabilities. Rights groups have been urging the…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

UGANDA: Death-penalty-for-LBGTQ+ law passed

LGBTQIA+

UGANDA'S President Yoweri Museveni signed one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", drawing Western condemnation and risking sanctions from aid donors. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further. It stipulates capital punishment for "serial offenders" against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. "The Ugandan president has today legalised state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia," said Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan rights activist. United States President Joe Biden called the move "a…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Uganda passes tough anti-gay law

NEWS

UGANDA'S parliament passed a law that criminalises identifying as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. More than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already ban same-sex relations. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to the rights group Human Rights Watch. Supporters of the new law say it is needed to punish a broader array of LGBTQ activities, which they say threaten traditional values in the conservative and religious East African nation. In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Uganda considers bill to criminalise LGBTQ

NEWS

UGANDA'S parliament took up a bill that would criminalise identifying as LGBTQ, with lawmakers saying the current ban on same-sex relations does not go far enough. The anti-LGBTQ sentiment is deeply entrenched in the highly conservative and religious east African nation, with same-sex relations punishable by up to life in prison. More than 30 African countries ban same-sex relations, but Uganda's law, if passed, would appear to be the first to criminalise merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to Human Rights Watch. The proposed Ugandan law was introduced as a private lawmaker's bill and aims…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

One woman’s fight against criminalisation of LGBT community

LGBTQIA+

FRANCIS KOKOROKO IN a dimly-lit room with racks of women's clothing, Ghanaian artist and LGBT+ activist Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi flipped through photo self-portraits illustrating her transition to womanhood. Transitioning is not illegal in Ghana, but it will become so if a new law is passed, intended to tighten already strict anti-LGBT+ regulations which render same-sex relations illegal. Homophobia is pervasive in the West African country and trans people are generally considered to be gay. Fiatsi first exhibited the photographs, dubbed "Rituals of Becoming", in 2017. Supportive audiences flocked to see the show in Ghanaian galleries. Her work reflects how LGBT+…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

One woman fight against criminalisation of LGBT community

LGBT+

FRANCIS KOKOROKO INa dimly-lit room with racks of women's clothing, Ghanaian artist and LGBT+ activist Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi flipped through photo self-portraits illustrating her transition to womanhood. Transitioning is not illegal in Ghana, but it will become so if a new law is passed, intended to tighten already strict anti-LGBT+ regulations which render same-sex relations illegal. Homophobia is pervasive in the West African country and trans people are generally considered to be gay. Fiatsi first exhibited the photographs, dubbed "Rituals of Becoming", in 2017. Supportive audiences flocked to see the show in Ghanaian galleries. Her work reflects how LGBT+ people…

Jan

2022

By The African Mirror

‘Second-class citizens’? Namibia rules against gay couples

LGBT+

NYASHA FRANCIS NYAUNGWA NAMIBIA'S High Court ruled against two gay couples fighting for recognition of their marriages, with the judge saying she agreed with them but was bound by the nation's prohibition of same-sex relations. Like Namibia, many other African nations still ban same-sex liaisons, with couples risking jail and public scorn. Daniel Digashu and Johan Potgieter had married in South Africa, and Anette Seiler-Lilles and Anita Seiler-Lilles in Germany - but both couples now live in Namibia. Digashu, a South African, and German-born Anita Seiler-Lilles had applications for a work permit and residency denied respectively based on their same-sex…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

OPINION: I fled Nigeria for my safety. But many other LGBT+ activists remain under threat in my country

LGBT+

MICHEAL IGHODARO I come from Nigeria, one of the 68 countries that continue to criminalize same-sex relations. I had to flee for my life and seek asylum in the US. I was lucky; most people cannot flee. But I was also unlucky because we should not have to flee. In order to protect LGBT+ people in the most hostile places, the possibility to seek asylum is crucial and has to be protected. But what is more, we have to support activists on the ground fighting for change and for safety, so that LGBT+ people can live as their true selves everywhere, without…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Desmond Tutu’s lesbian daughter calls for LGBT+ equality

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH THE lesbian minister daughter of anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu has called for full LGBT+ equality as almost 400 religious figures backed a global ban on conversion therapy and an end to laws criminalising same-sex relations. Leaders from all the main religions signed the joint declaration - among them Mpho Tutu van Furth's father and Britain's Bishop of Liverpool, but she said the need for such a statement showed far more work was needed. "Religious leaders and religious structures all over the world have not yet arrived at the recognition that we are all fully human," Rev. Canon Tutu…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Blackmailed with nudes, Nigerian lesbians find safety outside the closet

LGBT+

VINCENT DESMOND and RACHEL SAVAGE AFTER swapping nude photos with Blessing on WhatsApp, Chioma set out to meet her prospective lover but was accosted on the road by a man in military uniform who accused her of "lesbianism". The man told Chioma he was going to strip her naked and take her to the Nigerian police, as instructed by Blessing's father, a senior army official, as same-sex relations are a crime punishable by up to 14 years in jail in the West African nation. "I started begging him and asking him what he could do to help me because I…